Student housing in France to get an upgrade from the French government starting in 2008
February 16, 2008
In France, a shortage of housing for university students has long been an issue. A leading student organization in France estimates that there are currently only 156,000 rooms in university towns for 2.2 million students. As a result, students in France have had to resort to creative arrangements, renting rooms in strangers’ homes, exchanging their services for a bed, or are compelled to remain at home with their parents, limiting both their choice of university and their lifestyles.
But on Friday, February 15, Valerie Pécresse, Minister for Higher Education in France, and French Housing Minister Christine Boutin announced at a joint press conference on student housing the government of France would commit to the construction of new housing for 5,000 students and 7,000 restorations of current student residences per year over the next four years. The government of France will invest 620 million euros between now and 2012 in the project.
The first such commitment on the construction and restoration of student housing in France at this level had already been made with great fanfare by the Raffarin government in 2004, but this commitment was not upheld. In the Ile-de-France department of France, the issue of student housing is most acute, because of the shortage of available land and the preponderance of universities in the area (Ile-de-France includes Paris and its suburbs). To address this, the two French government ministers suggested organizing a conference on housing in Ile-de-France with the participation of all the players at the city and local levels.
In the 2008 budget 155 million euros will be dedicated to the development of student housing in France, Mrs. Pécresse declared that over the next four years, that would total 620 million euros devoted to this issue. However, the level of investment in the project would always be subject to review each year vis-a-vis the total planned budget of France. Skeptics worry that student housing in France might be vulnerable in the event of any budget crisis or shortfall.
As a supplement to augmenting dedicated student housing in France, the French government voiced support for alternative housing, already an unofficial fixture in France, known as co-rental and intergenerational housing, in which French students and families or elderly people living alone in France seek each other out or are matched by a third party. Elderly French citizens and French families trade their spare rooms for help and companionship from a young French student. Intergenerational housing has begun to take off in France, though the concept originated in Spain. There are now private sector agencies in France dedicated to matching elderly French desiring company with students needing housing in France.
Considering the shortage of land in France for dedicated student housing, “It is necessary to consider new forms of student residences” like co-location and intergenerational housing” agreed the two French ministers. They proposed a new specific lease for these arrangements, giving them official status in France. A “national approval” will be soon be studied, added the French Minister for the higher education.
One third the students in France have difficulty finding housing, according to a study carried out in 2006. 42 % of these young French people live in family housing, including 37 % with their parents. 31 % of them rent in France, living alone or as a couple. Only 14 % are in collective residence s like dormitories, and 7 % in a co-renting or intergenerational housing situation in France.
In a civil action across France a few days before, the national Union of the students of France (UNEF) called for 1 billion euros to be allocated toward the building of student residences in France. “In the absence of the means or assistance to rent housing, many students in France must stay in their parents’ homes, and choose their school according to geography and not their aspirations.” The group urged the government of France to honor the original 2004 commitments on the construction and restoration of the student residences in France.
Comments
Got something to say?
You must be logged in to post a comment.